to your first question. just make sure its buffered. if its not find out how to get ahold of a buffering solution. cause if you dont you may not have the best results, for real. ask the person at the store if it is. if they dont know go to the web site on the bag and find out. if it needs to be buffered they may be able to suggest a product. but "FIND OUT FIRST" trust me.
second. NO, NO, NO,.... imo. coco is a form of hydro, that you can use like dirt, yes. but it is neither one outright. it seems to me that people switching from hydro to coco want to apply all of their hydro techniques(numerous nute combinations of all differenet types) to the coco. and the soil guys,i love you guys cause i started as a soil guy, but luckily only for about seven months and then someone showed me the light, but that was three years ago. but anyway the soil guys want to add all of this stuff to help it drain better. NO, NO, NO.
hydro guys, what you did with your rez based system doesnt apply at all to using coco in a drian to waste fashion(my method of choice), but it does partially with the slabs, but only in your feeding "technique". but in both instances the nutes must be "COCO SPECIFIC". a lot of people get away with alot, but in my opinion, for the best results make sure you are using stuff designed for the coco, and stick with it. if you want to tweek you feeding, just make sure that whatever new additive you add to your coco is for coco.
soil guys.im not saying what you cant do, ok. im just saying what you shouldnt do. IN MY OPINION, only because alot of it ive tried. not all, but a few different methods. first off coco can absorb and hold many many times its own weight. second i think it is unmatched in its abilty to drain exactly what it needs to drain, and hold on to exactly what it needs to hold. so you dont need to add anything to "HELP" it drain better.and dont forget adding all that stuff "could" throw the ph off, cause coco has a neutral ph. but heres what happens when you add stuff to coco that you would add to dirt to make it drain better. the first time you water your pot, as the nutes are making their way down to the bottom of the pot to eventually give you a good runoff, the coco is settling. and all those nice little spaces that your perilite or whatever "had" created, well they heve just been collasped upon. now instead of your roots being able to roam freely through the settlted coco, like it was designed for them to do, they now have to work their way through and around in this compressed mass of coco and rock. because the weight from the perilite, vermiculite, etc.. has just weighed and compressed the coco tighter and heavier. now your plant is using more energy just to search for nutes, affecting yeild, possibly. because as the roots absorb the nutes, and the coco alone gets drier and it loosens alowing the roots to move about EASY. but its not so easy when you have, depending on your pot size, anywhere between a half of a pound to two pounds of "ROCKs" sitting on and around your precious roots. not good. so guys if you are going to use your coco in a pot for drain to waste. the only thing you need to put in your pot is coco, and coco specific nutes. remember this is only in my own experiences, not saying what can and cant be done, just my experiences. hope that helps. sorry i went on quite a spill there didnt i, thats cause i love soil guys. but if theres anything else i cant help you with feel free to ask.
PEACE!!!
-ZEN-
